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Spatial Justice: Creating a Unisex Restrooms in Taiwan

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Spatial Justice: Creating a Unisex Restrooms in Taiwan International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, Vol. 7, No. 11, November 2017 Spatial Justice: Creating a Unisex Restrooms in Taiwan Chihyuan Chang gradually seen more and more emphasis and concerns by Abstract—This study recommended that Taiwan’s unisex society, while the locations of such toilets in Taiwan are restroom designs, on the basis of building usage types and mostly at universities, colleges and public sector institutions, public usage characteristics, be divided into single and complex and most of which are in the nature of demonstrations and types in order to adapt to local conditions. In addition, in single-point settings. furthering the use of unisex restrooms, governments should not only consider the standpoint of the user (such as male, female, In addition, compared to the “Convention on the transgender) in design and planning, but also take into account Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women " general users’ experience. Based on the concepts of the United under the United Nations Charter, which is paying more and Nations’ “Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of more attention to women's basic human rights, the value of Discrimination Against Women" for the elimination of human dignity and gender equality rights, the Building Act of discrimination against women (such as elderly or handicapped Taiwan has neither mandatorily stipulated the necessity of women), equality of acquiring resources and gender-equal rights, the unisex restroom indeed needs to be set and the State setting unisex restrooms, nor formulated relevant should take appropriate measures to protect the rights of specifications. women. The present study asks: What is the difference between an accessible toilet and a unisex restroom? What are the issues Index Terms—Unisex restroom, all-gender restroom, gender of the social environment? How should we conduct planning neutral restroom, spatial justice. and design for unisex restrooms? I. INTRODUCTION II. LITERATURE REVIEW The design of public restrooms has always been an important study issue because it involves factors such as A. Feminism and Unisex Restrooms gender, hygiene, accessibility, use of space, and equipment The basic mission of the feminist movement is to remove and piping. the gender systems in societies in order to deconstruct and In modern society, there are no restrooms built especially reconstruct women’s identity. In practice and discourse, for a particular sex at homes in most countries. The whole rejecting the female identity defined by men or imprinted of family shares one restroom. But for restrooms in public patriarchal families by demanding equality, by pointing out space, since they are used by various people, privacy and differences or by segregating completely to defend the rights gender factors are included in the design. Because of the of women is the bottom line of feminism. different male’s and female’s toilet usage time, there are not “All-Gender Restroom”, aka unisex restroom, restroom for enough women’s restrooms in public buildings. both genders / universal restroom, residential bathroom, Consequently, long queue is a common scene at women’s gender neutral restroom, means broadly public restrooms that restrooms. Furthermore, which type of public restroom are available to and used by everyone. They are generally should male adults with young girls, female adults with thought to be the partial solution to senior citizens or young young boys or men or women with physically-challenged children that need the assistance from their family members seniors use? They are usually troubled by gender issue when when going to the restroom and the disproportionate numbers they need to go to the restroom, not to mention there is safety of male and female restrooms and disproportionate toilet issue involved. usage time. As for transgender or homosexual people, what type of Longhurst (2001) discussed the fluid boundaries. He talks public restrooms should they use? The solutions for the above about the shape, depth, biology, insides, outsides and issues happen in the public buildings in Taiwan are provided boundaries of bodies’ places in particular temporal and according to the regulations for accessible restrooms in spatial contexts. Women’s and men’s bodily boundaries can “Design Specifications of Accessible of and Usable be linked to a politics of fluidity/ solidity and Buildings and Facilities”. However, it affects the rights of irrationality/rationality. Bodies are socially constructed and physically-challenged people because their toilet usage time are also always in a state of becoming with places. Domestic is usually longer which could take up to 30 minutes. Thus the toilets/bathrooms are often the site where bodily boundaries issue of “All-Gender Restroom” has been getting more and are broken and then made solid again. The body is (re)made more attention and being taken into account by the staff at ready for public scrutiny. Longhurst examine men’s Building Administration Department. experience of domestic toilets/ bathrooms as a strategic move In recent years, the issue of "unisex restrooms" has to displace the often implicit association of body fluids and flows with fermininity (especially maternity, pregnancy and Manuscript received June 30, 2017; revised October 12, 2017. menstruation) [1]. Chihyuan Chang is with the Architecture and Building Research Institute, Gershenson and Penner (2009) point out it is only by Ministry of the Interior, Taiwan (e-mail: [email protected]) doi: 10.18178/ijssh.2017.7.11.911 702 International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, Vol. 7, No. 11, November 2017 understanding the private or unconscious life and meanings unisex restrooms, including the preliminary conception of of controversial; how they are so integrally bound up with planning and designing unisex restrooms proposed by the other issues, from women’s right to gay sexual identity, that Architecture and Building Research Institute, MOI [10]; is often impossible to invoke one without invoking them all; Empirical Assessment and Reflection on Unisex Restrooms and why they have been the subject of so many passionate at Shih Hsin University [11]; The Process of Moving from debates, controversies, and design and art interventions Female Restroom to Unisex Restroom in the View of a throughout the modern era. Public toilets are also amenities Participant [12]. However, those studies mentioned above with a functional, even a civic, purpose. Yet they also act as have not carried out discussion about the definition, planning the unconscious of public spaces [2]. and design, and manageress’ view of unisex restrooms. Thus, Barcan (2010) pointed out public toilets are as this study was conducted and focused on this point of view. technologies of concealment, elimination, or disavowal [3]. Serlin (2010) discussed the disability, gender and the public toilet and pointed out the federal guidelines for III. RESEARCH METHODS enforcing or invoking the ADA deliberately presume a The research methods adopted in this study included laws disabled body that is unmarked to unaffected by differentials and regulations study, restroom-site investigation, interviews of gender, race, ethnicity, class, or sexuality, let alone bodily with managers and expert seminars. difference and normatively[4]. Methods included a study on laws and regulations, a Cavanagh (2010) explores how public toilets demarcate unisex restroom survey, and expert interviews. The steps the masculine and the feminine, and condition ideas of were as shown in Fig. 1, and the list of persons interviewed gender and sexuality. She pointed out the modern toilets and the outline of questions asked were as shown in Tables 1 engineers a truth about the body and its sex. The disciplining and 2 respectively. of gender is dependent upon visual and acoustic surveillance systems responsive to ideas about hygiene. Bodies are separates and subject to quarantine under the auspices of health and safety [5]. B. Review of Literature on All-Gender Restrooms, Installation and Policies Kogan (2010) argued that policymakers were motivated to enact toilet separation laws aimed at factories as a result of deep social anxieties over women leaving their homes- their appropriate “separate sphere”-to enter the work force. Laws mandated sex-separated factory toilet facilities as a cure-all for Victorian social anxieties [6]. Gershenson (2010) discussed the restroom revolution about unisex toilets and campus politics in the United States and pointed out public toilets are among the very few sex-segregated spaces remaining in the culture of the United States. The laws that govern them are among the very few in the United States still to be sex respecting, meaning that they still distinguish on their face between males and females [7]. Greeds (2010) pointed out the achievements of a nonsexist restroom requires immense cultural, attitudinal, policy, legal, and architectural changes. She also made recommendations as to how to create a nonsexist restroom, with respect to the Fig. 1. Steps and procedures. different levels of the problem-at the macro, meso, and micro levels. These recommendations involve new directions for TABLE 1: LIST OF PERSONS INTERVIEWED design and planning for the city as a whole, the local area, and Type No. Reason the toilet block, respectively [8]. Expert/scholar A1 University professor specializing in Peng (2013) observed that unisex restrooms appear to be environments for the elderly applauded but unappealing
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